POSITIONED TO SOAR II: Focusing
Your Awareness
Numbers
13:16-33
This
message is about how awareness of God and his provisions give a positive view to
life situations. Twelve spies visited the land God promised the nation of
Israel. Their mission was to investigate
what it was like and report. When they returned ten (83%) of them reported that
the land was unconquerable. Yet Caleb and Joshua who went to the same place and
saw the same features, giants and fortifications confidently reported the
opposite. To the two, despite the seemingly formidable opponents Israel
could immediately move in and occupy the land.
The two sides saw and experienced the same, yet arrived at opposite
conclusions because of what they chose to focus on. What you are more conscious
of influences how you view yourself and everything else. Ten of the spies
focused on the giants and became more aware of them than their strength in God.
The two who brought a good report were more conscious of God and became more
aware of Him than of the relatively much weaker giants.
Awareness
is what you notice in your surroundings and mind and how it makes you feel. It
is what you are awake to and responding to. It is the reality or presence
influencing you. It is what prospects you think when you preview your life. Awareness can
be positive or negative depending on what you choose to focus on and what you
believe about yourself and your resources. It determines whether you live a
hopeful and abundant life or a defeated and depleted life. Learning to focus on what raises a positive
awareness in you is called focusing your awareness.
Some
basic choices of focus between competing options that are crucial to
determining positive awareness are:
>> Focusing on yourself or on God. The
ten spies gave an evil report that discouraged the nation and opposed God’s
purpose because they focused on their human strength (Numbers 13:31-33). Caleb
and Joshua focused with the ability of God who had commissioned them to possess
the land (Numbers 13:30). You also can focus either on God as revealed in his
word or on human strength. Faith comes
from awareness of God. Faith raises your self-esteem. You train to focus on God
by meditating on God’s word in order to be mentally more conscious of God than yourself.
When you are self-conscious, you depend on your limited resources and miss the
benefit of relying in all sufficient God. When you are self-conscious, you make
decisions based on the fear or praise of people. You seek your own interests
and the gifts of God instead of the giver.
>> Focusing on satan or on Christ. Caleb
and Joshua knew that when God spoke it was as good as his action (Numbers
13:30). God’s promise guaranteed victory and granted it. The Bible exhorts believers to fix eyes on
Jesus (Romans 12:2). He defeated satan by rising again after being crucified
(Colossians 2:15). You may be so satan conscious that you search for him and if
he is absent you bring him on scene so you can sort him out by binding, etc.
Believers must deal with satan and enforce their victory through Christ. Dealing
with him is however, no excuse to dwell with him by allowing him to dominate
your thoughts and conversation. For some even their prayer experience is about
satan instead of about communicating with God. You can enjoy fellowship with
God by maintaining a strong awareness of Christ and his finished work. Satan is
already defeated and when resisted in Jesus’ name he flees (James 4:7). Be
aware of Christ and his presence than anything else. When your life focus is
Christ, growth and revival happens. The Apostle
Paul fixed his eyes on Jesus and exhorted believers to do the same (1
Corinthians 1:17, 23-31; 1 Corinthians 2:2- 5).
>> Focusing on sin or on
righteousness. You cannot have confidence to face giants when you
are conscious of your inadequacies and sins (1 John 3:21; 5:14). And when you view
God as one who is angry and looking for opportunity to pour his wrath on you
(Hebrews 4:16). Confidence such as Caleb and Joshua had comes from knowing
one’s identity and covenant with God (Nehemiah 1:5). In Christ, you have not
come to Mt Sinai where God was unapproachable and terrifying (Exodus 20:19) but
we have come to Mt Calvary where with arms of mercy wide open he is reaching
out to all (Hebrews 4:16); Romans 5:2). God’s mercy is not pity but
transformation power so you have ability to live righteously. At Mt Calvary, you become more conscious of
your righteousness in Christ than your sin. Christ who knew no sin became sin
so that you can receive the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). In
Christ, you are a saint not a sinner. It is hard to see yourself as a saint
when your life looks ordinary. You however need to remind yourself of who you
are spiritually (2 Corinthians 5:17). Awareness of the righteousness you
already have empowers you to overcome sin you face (Romans 6:11).
Maintaining
a sin consciousness is a trap and prison to sin. It comes with a human desire to pay the wrong
done by self-pity and taking away joy.
The good news is you do not have to pay for what Christ already paid
for. God is holy and sin attracts his
wrath (Hebrews 12:14). The question is however
where you visit and where you dwell between sin and righteousness. You must
confess and forsake sin (1 John 1:9), receive forgiveness by faith and move
forward. God is not assessing how long, and graphically you repent or describe
your sins. He just invites you to admit
and turn from the wrong thing. God already knows. If you listed all the traits
that define what a Christian should be, none will get 100%. Think about your righteousness and live as a
righteous person. You do not do good to
earn righteousness but do righteous things because you are a righteous
person. If you really catch a revelation
of your righteousness and believe you will not want to degrade yourself with sin.
Instead, you will love God so much you do not want to displease him.
Confession
is not just about confessing sin but also confessing the wonderful scriptures
that tell your new identity, your relationship with God, your security, your
oneness, your freedom in Christ, and your righteousness. Confess God’s goodness, his works, his
promises and his provision already sealed for you (Romans 8:1; 1 John 4:4;
Philippians 4:13; Psalm 103:2-3).
>> Focusing on curses or on the cross. The
bible says that when Jesus hung on the cross he bore all your curses (Galatians
3:13). When you think there is a curse, bondage or evil pattern following your
life, family or business. Break it by pronouncing that you reject it and
refusing to let it continue. Pronounce the end of its activity in Jesus’ name
and receive your victory by faith. Receive all the blessings of the cross such
as those listed in Deuteronomy 28. Stop worrying and glorifying the curse
anymore. Focus on the crucified and risen Jesus to break all evil patterns and
break out to freedom. In Christ, you have been blessed with every spiritual
blessing and are free indeed. The Bible is cross-centred. All of heaven is
cross-centred. The shared purpose of the word and the Holy Spirit is zooming
Christ into focus. The kingdom of light is cross-centred. So must your life be.
>> Focusing on works or on grace. The
invitation to live by faith is a call to be grace conscious. You can never do
good enough to earn his favour nor punish yourself enough to stay his wrath.
That is why salvation and all received from God is by grace (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
Any other message is erroneous even if it comes from an angel of light
(Galatians 1:8). Paul highlights in most
of his letters in the New Testament, the futility of relying on one’s effort,
and religious sacrifices for acceptance
by God or credit before him. God loves
you when you least expect or deserve. He comes to get you where he wants you to
be.
>> Focusing on scarcity or on
abundance.
You can develop a mental attitude of scarcity or abundance depending on what
you focus on. If focusing on God, his wisdom guides your decisions and you
behave as if he truly shall supply all your needs. As if, he truly has blessed
you with all spiritual blessings. Symptoms of a scarcity mental attitude
include:
-
Finding it hard to give especially to
God’s work
-
Planning according to what is in hand
instead of according to the vision.
-
Quarrelling or as someone put it ‘having
intense discussion’ about money.
-
Saying I will tithe and invest when I
have more income. Holding on to what is there instead of using it to get more
and better.
-
Preoccupation with cost saving that
limits profit/benefit. You need a willingness to spend in order to make profit
volumes.
>> Focusing on
problem/threat/obstacle or on solution/opportunity/possibility. With God,
nothing is impossible. The Bible is full of people that overcame the worst of
odds through faith (Hebrews 11). Always hope in God the author and finisher of
faith. Be inspired by God guaranteed victory instead of being discouraged by
the difficulties.
Solution
providers are solution conscious.
Focusing on opportunities stimulates thinking and creativity to provide
solutions. Focusing on the obstacle is disheartening. Shift from ‘it can’t’ to
‘how can it be done.’ Instead of asking
‘what if it fails’, ask ‘what if it succeeds’. Stop expecting someone else and
ask ‘why not me.’ Instead of saying ‘if only this and that’ start ‘thanking God
for this and that’. Think boom not doom. With God, it is well and things are
getting better.
Sight
and doubt always imagine or exaggerate problems. The ten spies who gave a bad
report exaggerated their description of the land. They called it a land that
devoured its inhabitants and said they were like grasshoppers in their eyes
when they never got into their eyes (Numbers 13:31-33). Faith puts everything
to proper size before God. Refuse to walk by sight but by faith.
>> Focusing on where you are or
where you are going/and Potential. You can be a relative thinker who
is constantly linking the current to the goal, or a terminal thinker who lives
only for the day. When you have goals and are a relative thinker, you can
endure certain situations because you see them as stepping-stones. You also are
less distracted by others because you know that you are aware of where you are
going and what you want in the process. In every season of life, find out what
it is God wants you to collect into your kit that you will need in the future.
Jesus
saw beyond the existing status of people. He called his disciples and promised
to make them fishers of men. He saw potential in Simeon and called him peter
when he was still very impulsive in his actions and words. He saw his
potential. God focused on potential in people like Abram with no child and
advanced age whom he renamed Abraham – father of nations. Gideon when he was in
hiding was called a man of valour. the list goes on. God’s focus is always to reveal to you what
you do not know about yourself not condemning you with what you know. He focuses on the finished product - what you
are becoming. He treats you now with honour you really deserve when he has
finished changing you or your situation. He is in the business of changing
lives. He is inspired by what you can become and wants you to share in his
excitement. Appreciate what you have and commit it to God. It is the necessary material
to take you to your dreams.
>> Focusing on the past or on the
future. Everyone has wrongs, failures, regrets, hurts,
joys and other stuff accumulated from the past.
The past has value to the extend it contributes a foundation, lessons
and formation of character. However, as long as you have a future, hope is in
the future. The big question is not what happened in the past but what you will
do with the future before you. If your past was bad, do not suffer double
jeopardy by letting it rob you of your future. Forgive, let go and hold on to
what you need for a better future. You can visit the past for lessons but dwell
in pursuing the future, just as a driver looks through the big windscreen and
only refers to the small mirrors for a view of what is behind.
Fill
yourself with the word of God and his Spirit. Memory brings up the past but the
word of God is a repository that brings up your bright future (Colossians
3:1-3). God’s word is the blue print of God’s wonderful plans drawn up from the
beginning. Focusing on Jesus salvages the past and moves you from the present
to the preferred future. Focus on your hope. Your strengths and dreams attract
the support you need to overcome the present challenges. Your weaknesses and
confusion about what you want put possible support off.
>> Focusing on what is wrong or on
what’s right. People, projects, leaders etc have weaknesses,
failures, and shortcomings. I was taught that for every wrong you point out, find
five rights or else ignore the wrong or at least know you do not qualify to
deal with the wrong because you are biased/not objective. We tend to notice and like to point out
things that are wrong or not going well such as being unfairly treated. Often
this tendency is linked to sin consciousness. when you only see sin in your
life you will also see mistakes/ and the same in others and always seek to
address it in others often by condemning people. Godly wisdom is being able to
also see what is right and going well and not keep quiet about it.
Strengthening what is going well often corrects the wrong. Invest on your
strengths for maximum returns.
>> Others
-
Focusing on servants or on the master
-
Focusing on traditions or on the life
-
Focusing on provision or on the mission
Focus
determines your spiritual posture as a victorious or defeated believer and as
complainer or appreciator. The above presented choices are some of the key
points for focusing awareness on Christ. The bible is full of wonderful
promises and statements of realities about life in Christ. You would think that
every Christian would be enjoying peace and daily thanking and praising God. However,
it is so easy to read the Bible and to listen to inward affirmations of the
Holy Spirit and yet refuse to take them personally or refuse to accept that
they truly also apply to you. May God open your eyes and may you renew your
mind and rise up to enforce your freedom (Romans 12:1-2). It does not matter
where you picked up the misplaced focus. The point is God is not focusing on what
is not helping you. If it disagrees with
scripture, it is not helping your faith and is not helping your relationship
with God. It also is not helping your
ministry, your daily life, your marriage, or your work. When you catch yourself
off focus, commit to making adjustment to correct the focus as Caleb and Joshua.
Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.
South Africa
